Deca
Automa Ashes

THE REVIEW

"This music can influence the subconscious quite significantly" I read some time ago in a (non-musical) magazine that discussed some studies conducted in this direction. The article mentioned the name Deca, the Distonirical Movement: and it caught my eye.

In fact, since the cult album "Simbionte," this local composer has been giving the impression of having found an unusual or at least cross-sectional path to produce music. It could be the blend of sounds, the layering of environments, the impossibility of identifying certain timbres, and the vocal magma that often unfolds in the background... and then that evocative depth that impacts - precisely - the subconscious. Often generating feedback in dreams or in certain ancestral memories, where fragments of his tracks echo as if they belong to the hidden side of the listener. It could be this or something else, probably. Some say it is due to certain frequencies combined together, creating a sort of very powerful field. It is a step beyond the premises of music therapy... nothing particularly science-fiction-esque, then.

Anyway, this new album "Automa Ashes", released at the end of September 2010 and co-published by RaiTrade no less, follows the same creative line as the illustrious "Simbionte," introducing into its alien landscapes instruments and vibrations of (reassuring) earthly tradition: guitar strings, vibraphones, string sections, and especially piano, which is Deca's artistic root after all. A musician with over two decades of illustrious career behind him, about ten official records, plus a series of various productions and collaborations with the world of theater and television... a musician I admire for his determination to chart a path always free from easy compromises, who has tried not to get stuck in the manner and to constantly experiment, while remaining distant from the genre elites.

In fact, it's difficult to say whether he belongs more to the ambient area or the electronic one, as well as to the industrial one. In his music, there are various connections that ultimately mark a rather personal style. And this new album proves it, staging acoustic-minimal reminiscences mixed with rhythmic loops and unsettling esoteric orchestrations; with sounds that range widely not only over forty years of electronic history but also tapping into his own discography with a filtered self-citation formula. All to create a great allegory of human existence in thirteen mini-chapters, aiming to depict the perceptions of the individual in their most emotional and unconscious states of consciousness.

A fitting and striking example of this concept is the closing track "Ashesehsa", which represents the passage: at the beginning, it superimposes all twelve previous tracks at hallucinatory speed (with a mnemonic and subliminal effect similar to the film said to pass before the eyes a minute before dying) and then closes with a relaxed and ancestral murmur of muffled organ. Brilliant. And capable of ending the listening of the work with a feeling that leaves one speechless.

Before this thirteenth track, there is the alternation of rarefied and metaphysical moments (Arcanaut Paradox, Technetus Atomicon) to small futuristic symphonies with now melancholic turns (Osmodes Enigma, Sehsashes) now anguishing (Taumash Estamau, Antichrome Reset). Certainly with something more musical compared to "Simbionte," but still indicative of a precise and culturally heavy and thoughtful choice, made tangible with that extra cross-sectional strength that touches normally still strings.

Highly recommended album for those who are not yet familiar with Deca. Obviously also recommended for those who have already appreciated his previous works and do not want to lose touch with a truly alternative sound universe.